Almost all aircraft are equipped with exterior light units. Exterior light units are used for a variety of purposes. Some aircraft lights allow the pilots and crew to have a better active visibility of the aircraft itself and of the environment. Other aircraft lights are used for passive visibility of the aircraft or for signalling purposes. Examples of such lights are navigation lights, beacon lights and anti-collision lights.
In order to be visible from a wide range of angles, some of these lights, such as anti-collision lights or navigation lights, are mounted at locations where their light emission is particularly unobstructed, such as at wing tip locations or aircraft tail locations. These locations tend to be critical in terms of space available for exterior aircraft lighting.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide an exterior aircraft light unit whose design allows for a particularly compact implementation.